The Tale of Two Sisters
by Tessa
Summary: When a woman knocks on the doors of Nonnatus House, life-altering changes take place.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes:** Well, I'm no stranger to the world of fan fiction, as you can see in my profile. But this is my first CtM fan fiction and I'm kinda nervous what you all think of it. People on Tumblr told me to continue after they'd read the first part, so here's chapter 1. I have no idea if I'm going to be able to update on a regular basis. But I'll do my best to finish this story somehow. Please keep in mind that English is not my first language and it's not beta'd yet as I'm looking for a beta-reader. Oh, and unfortunately I don't own CtM at all...

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**CHAPTER 1**

She was in enormous pain. Walking took all the strength she had left. Finally the building of Nonnatus House came into her line of vision. She stumbled up the stairs and managed one knock on the door before she sank to the ground and her world went black.

Sister Mary Cynthia and Sister Winifred were about to go to bed, when they heard a knock on the door. Both young sisters halted and waited for another knock to follow the one they thought they heard. When none came, they looked at each other and Sister Winifred decided to open the door. Sister Mary Cynthia had followed closely and when the door opened both women couldn't contain their gasp of horror at the sight that greeted them. It was Sister Winifred who recovered first and sprang into action.

"Sister Mary Cynthia, go call Sister Julienne for help."

Sister Mary Cynthia nodded and walked as quickly as she could - running of course was not acceptable - to get Sister Julienne. One knock on her door was enough and soon both Sisters were on their way down.

Sister Winifred quickly took in the woman's appearance, who was lying unconscious on the stairs that led to Nonnatus House. Her immediate conclusion was that something horrible had happened to the woman. The clothes she was wearing were covered in blood and torn. When Sister Winifred carefully turned her onto her back, she noticed bruises on the woman's neck and face, her right eye was swollen shut and her breathing was labored.

"Oh dear," Sister Julienne said and quickly took charge. "Sister Mary Cynthia, I want you to call doctor Turner and then sergeant Noakes."

Sister Mary Cynthia nodded and hurriedly left to make the calls.

"Help me carry her to the nearest guest chamber, Sister." Sister Julienne said to Sister Winifred. The younger Sister nodded and carefully they carried her to the nearest room and laid the injured woman on the bed. Sister Julienne had a fairly good inkling of what had happened, but to be sure she had to examine her. Even though the woman was unconscious, Sister Julienne respected her virtue, therefor she asked for Sister Winifred to fetch her a bowl of water and a wash cloth. Then, as the door had closed, Sister Julienne carefully removed the woman's clothing. The blood she saw on the woman's thighs confirmed the Sister's suspicion.

A knock on the room's door made her pull up the sheet, so the woman would remain covered. Then she called out an enter. The door opened and inside stepped Sister Winifred with the bowl of water and a wash cloth, together with doctor Turner. Sergeant Noakes stood still in the door opening. One look told him enough and he told the two Sisters and the doctor he would take Sister Mary Cynthia's statement first and theirs later.

"Why don't you go and give your statement as well? Doctor and I will be able to manage." Sister Julienne said.

"Are you sure?" Sister Winifred asked.

The older Sister nodded and told her younger Sister to go, her voice clear. Sister Winifred accepted the dismissal and quietly closed the door as she left. Doctor Turner looked questionably at Sister Julienne.

"Aside form the obvious beating she suffered, I have reason to believe she has been violated. There's blood on her inner thighs and her knickers are gone."

"I see," the doctor replied. "You need to make a statement about that, Sister, although I think sergeant Noakes might have an inkling of that. Let's see if I can do at least something to stop the swelling in the face. And I need to check if she has any other injuries."

It was when doctor Turner had gone home and the woman was made as comfortable as could be, that Sister Julienne made her statement to sergeant Noakes. "So, I take it there's no means of identifying the woman?"

Sister Julienne shook her head. "I'm afraid not, sergeant. Unless my Sisters have found a purse?" and she looked at her Sisters in question. Both shook their head, they hadn't found nor seen any purse at all.

"That's what I was afraid of," the sergeant sighed. "We'll be having a hard time figuring out who contact then, but we'll do our best."

"She must have relatives somewhere whom are concerned of her whereabouts, I'm sure." Sister Julienne replied. "In the meantime doctor Turner told me it was best not to move her around that much, and for now she's best of here I think. Doctor will come and check in tomorrow morning again, to see how she is doing."

"Well, I'd better go and see if we can try and locate her family." Sergeant Noakes stood.

Sister Julienne walked him to the door. "If you need our help, let us know. She was walking around in Poplar, she must live either in this neighborhood or very nearby. I can't imagine her traveling far with the injuries she sustained."

"I'll keep your offer in mind, Sister Julienne. Thanks!"

Patrick Turner had arrived home ten minutes ago, but he couldn't bring himself to step out of his car and enter his home. He couldn't help but see his wife's face on the pillow. The same small figure, the same height, faces alike, around the same age (give or take a year or two). It creeped him out so much that when there was a knock on the window of his car, he startled. Outside he saw his wife standing in nothing than her nightgown. The dressing gown she wore did not much to keep the chill of the night away and she had wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm.

He opened the door of his car, stepped out and pulled his wife to him. Her arms opened and welcomed him in a much needed embrace. "That bad?" She whispered and all he can do was nod his affirmative to her question. Shelagh Turner knew the situation of her husbands newest patient had been a bad one. Knowing her husband as well as she did after only two years of marriage, she knew he would talk to her about it when he was ready for it. "Come, let's get inside." She said. "I'm freezing."

Patrick looked at his wife and noticed the slight tremble she was trying to hide. He took of his coat and wrapped her up in it. It made him remember that time when he'd found her on the road leading from the sanatorium that foggy day. What he couldn't do then, he could do now. He softly pecked her lips, slightly lingering. Then he wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and guided her inside their home, up the stairs to their bedroom. She disgarded her dressing gown and quickly got into bed. When Patrick had changed, he quickly followed her and wrapped her in his arms, needing the assurance she was really there with him. Sleep followed quickly, dreamless, straight till morning.

Sister Monica Joan wandered the hallways of Nonnatus House with a mission. She was looking for something, but couldn't remember where she had left it. Nearing the guest chambers, she knew this was not where she had left whatever she was looking for. She was about to turn around to go to the dining room when she heard a soft whimpering from the first room. When the whimpering got louder, Sister Monica Joan took a look inside and she gasped. "Oh my dear! What kind of awful incident happened to you?" The oldest Sister of Nonnatus House walked to the bed and stroked the woman's face tenderly. The whimpering stopped and silently Sister Monica Joan left the room. She hurried to the dining room, where she knew her other Sisters would be having breakfast. She had forgotten the midwives would be there having breakfast as well, when she stormed in. Everyone stopped what they were doing at that moment and Sister Julienne asked what was wrong.

"What happened to Shelagh?"

"Shelagh's at home with Patrick, Sister Monica Joan." Sister Julienne answered gently.

"No, she's not!" Sister Monica Joan exclaimed. "I saw her lying in the first guest chamber just a moment ago, muttering 'you promised'!"

The midwives looked at each other confused. Sister Evangelina noticed the only people who weren't confused by the out burst were Sister Julienne, Sister Mary Cynthia and Sister Winifred. "Well," she grumbled, "which one of you three is going to explain what's going on?"

"When we went to bed last night, there was a knock on the door." Sister Mary Cynthia started.

"When we opened the door, there was a woman lying on the steps, she was unconscious." Sister Winifred continued.

"We couldn't leave her out there." Sister Mary Cynthia added. "So we called for Sister Julienne."

"Doctor Turner and sergeant Noakes were called. Doctor found it best not to move her anymore, so I found it for the better she stayed here." Sister Julienne explained. "And I think I understand doctor's reaction much better now and why she looked so familiar to me, thanks for helping Sister Monica Joan."

"So, it is Shelagh, then?" Nurse Gilbert asked.

"No, she's not." Sister Julienne replied, "But she does look an awful lot like her."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

The next morning Shelagh woke to find the space next to her empty. She quickly put on her dressing gown and stepped out into the hallway. It was silent. She quietly opened the door to Timothy's room. The boy was still sound asleep and Shelagh suppressed a smile, that boy could sleep through almost anything. But still no Patrick. She opened the door to Angela's room and the first thing she noticed was that the cot was empty. The door to the toddler's room was closed again, and Shelagh made her way down the stairs. The kitchen was devoid of any light, but in the living room, a small light could be seen. It was there where she found her husband, lying on the couch, Angela on top of his chest. Their baby girl was sound asleep, her husband was wide awake. She made her way over towards them and Patrick made as much space on the couch as he could without waking their daughter.

"I missed you when I woke up." Shelagh said when she sat down on the small space she found besides her husbands legs.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't fall back to sleep."

"Talk to me, Patrick." Shelagh coaxed. "Ever since you came back from Nonnatus House yesterday, I've noticed you haven't been yourself."

Patrick looked at their joined hands, Shelagh had grabbed his hand while talking to him. The slow circular motions she was making on top of his hand with her thumb were soothing him. It always had soothed him. He knew he should tell her what he'd seen last night. He looked up and just when he was about to speak, the telephone rang. He silently cursed the damn thing for ringing.

"You stay right where you are." Shelagh said and she stood up to pick up the phone. "Turner residence, Shelagh speaking." It didn't take long before she looked his way and he knew he was needed. While he slowly tried to get up under the slight weight of their daughter, Shelagh had come over to pick her up from his chest, while telling him it was Sister Julienne on the phone calling him in.

"Doctor Turner speaking." He said.

Shelagh had laid Angela in her playpen, the little lady was still sound asleep, which was a miracle with all the bustling about. She entered the kitchen, switched on the light and started to make breakfast. Not long after, Patrick was still on the phone talking to Sister Julienne, Timothy came downstairs. One look at his father was enough to know he was already going to be called away. When he turned to his stepmother, he noticed she started breakfast. He was about to offer her some help when his little sister announced she was awake. "It's okay, mum, I've got her."

"Thanks, dear." Shelagh smiled. Timothy was a marvel as a big brother. When both she and Patrick were busy, he always volunteered to babysit his little sister, even though his friends were going outside and play.

Patrick was done talking on the phone and he went over to his son. "Timothy, please look after your sister for an hour. Your mother and I need to go to Nonnatus House."

"What do you need me there for?" Shelagh had heard Patrick's words to Timothy and her curiosity was piked.

"I'd already promised to go by to see how that woman is doing, but recent events made Sister Julienne sure that you needed to come as well."

Shelagh looked perplexed, but Patrick's gaze towards their son, made her understand they'd be talking about this whilst being on their way. "Sure, we can be on our way after breakfast." She said briskly.

Patrick and Shelagh had arrived at Nonnatus House an hour after Sister Julienne had contacted them and still Patrick had to explain to his wife why her former Sister found it necessary that she would come as well. As they stood in front of the door, waiting to be let in, Shelagh looked at her husband. She guessed she would have to hear from Sister Julienne herself, why she was needed as well.

When the door was opened by Nurse Mount, Patrick stepped inside quickly without saying a word. Shelagh apologized for his behavior, telling Patsy that she thought last night's call had shaken him more than he was letting them know.

Patsy, who had helped Sister Julienne this morning taking care of their new patient, replied: "I'm not surprised." Which earned her a confused look from Shelagh.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I'm not sure it's my place to tell, perhaps seeing is for the best. Guest chambers, first door. Sorry, got to run now for my calls."

Shelagh made her way over to the guest chambers, noticing the strange looks the Sisters were giving her. It made her feel uncomfortable, it was as if it was her leaving the order all over again. When she arrived at the first door, Sister Julienne was standing in the doorframe. "Shelagh, my dear, how are you?"

"Wondering why it is I'm needed here. Patrick's with her right now?"

Sister Julienne nodded. "But before you go in, we need to talk." The older woman had softly grabbed Shelagh's elbow and led her to the chairs standing against the wall across the room. She gently directed the younger woman to sit down, and she sat down herself. "Shelagh, when you first joined our order, we didn't know much about you. Now we know more about you as who you are now, in this moment, but your youth is still a mystery to us." Sister Julienne noticed the unshed tears that had gathered in Shelagh's eyes and she quickly continued. "I've always known your youth was a sore spot to talk about, but please answer my question honestly. It's of the utmost importance." And when Shelagh softly nodded her consent, she asked: "Do you have a sister who's about the same age as you?"

"I've a sister who's two years younger than me, but we're very much alike." Came the whispered answer.

Sister Julienne smiled a sad smile. "We've noticed some similarities between you and the woman we found on our staircase last night. Sister Monica Joan had mistaken her for you."

"I guess that's got Patrick so upset then?"

"I guess," Sister Julienne replied, "my dear Shelagh, it was her calling out your name this morning, when Nurse Mount and I were tending to her wounds, that made me call Patrick and ask him to bring you along. I know you probably haven't seen your sister in a very long time…"

But Shelagh didn't hear any of the words Sister Julienne was speaking to her anymore. Her legs carried her of their own accord to the room. She stood still in the door frame, seeing Patrick carefully placing the blanket back up to cover the woman. When he stood up straight and turned around to look at her, she got a good look at the woman's face. What she saw made her sick to her stomach. There, lying on the bed, was her baby sister covered in bruises. Shelagh had imagined their reunion many a time, but never had she thought it would be like this. "God no, not Aislinn!" She whispered before she sank to the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Patrick was at his wife's side the moment he noticed she was unable to stand any longer. Holding her, he sank down to the ground with her, keeping her close in his embrace. He didn't say anything, he simply kept holding her, while her body shook with silent sobs.

Sister Julienne stood in the door opening, her heart going out for the woman she considered a daughter. When she looked at Patrick she saw him mouthing the words 'the children' she understood that Timothy was babysitting Angela at the moment. "I'll ask nurse Crane if she wants me to drive to your home to pick up the children." After seeing Patrick's relieved look, she turned around and left the Turners alone, knowing that Patrick would take care of Shelagh.

Patrick noticed his wife's shaking had stopped and he carefully lifted her head from his shoulder. The look of devastation in her eyes tore at his heart, while his look of undying love slowly mended the pieces of Shelagh's broken heart after discovering the woman was her sister.

"We used to be close. When mother died we grew closer." Shelagh's lips trembled and she was desperately trying to keep the tears at bay. "And when father died, we grew even more close. I … I …"

Patrick took her hands and stroked the top of her hands with his thumbs, just like she had done earlier this morning. "You?" He gently prodded.

"I … I promised her I'd always be there for her." Tears streamed down her face. "And I broke that promise."

"You must have a had a very good reason to break that promise. If you feel ready enough to tell me, know that you can. For now, let us stand up, so you can go and sit with your sister and renewing your promise of being there for her."

The doorbell rang and Timothy hesitantly put his little sister in her playpen. He walked to the door and peeped through the spy whole. "Who is it?" he called, just to be sure and when he heard the voice of Sister Julienne, he opened the door, a waterfall of questions coming from him.

Sister Julienne smiled about the boys protectiveness towards his family. "Your parents are still at Nonnatus House. I promised them I would come and get you and Angela, for they might be there for a while."

"Does this have to do with dad's new patient?"

"It's not my place to tell, it's not even your father's place to tell, it only is your mother's. But I'm quite sure that your mother wouldn't mind it if your father explained some of it to you. Come along, if you grab the things both you and Angela need, I'll go and get the little lady."

Timothy spurted upstairs, only to get down as quickly as he went up. "She's in her playpen, Sister." And he was back up again to grab their things and stuff them in his bag and Angela's nappy bag.

While Sister Julienne hold Angela in her arms, the little girl babbling happily, Timothy came thundering down the stairs. "All ready to go." He said.

"Well, let's go then. We mustn't let nurse Crane wait any longer than is necessary."

Timothy got in the back of the car and dumped the bags in the seat next to him. Sister Julienne gave Angela to him to hold. She found it much safer for Angela to sit in the back of the car. Then she stepped in as well. As soon as she sat, nurse Crane started the car and they were on their way to Nonnatus House.

The moment the car stopped and Sister Julienne had taken Angela from Timothy, the teenage boy ran up the stairs. He was lucky the door opened, as nurses Mount and Gilbert had to go to a child-birth. He quickly mumbled a hello, but simply rushed inside in search for his parents. Sister Julienne and nurse Crane followed in a more sedate pace.

"Where are you two off to?" nurse Crane asked.

"Mrs. Danty called. Her water broke." Barbara replied. "It's her first, so it probably will take some time."

"We'll see you later and if needed, save you some dinner." Sister Julienne said.

"Thank you." Both nurses replied in gratitude.

"Mum! Dad!" Timothy had gone up the stairs, but he had no idea in which room his father's patient was put in to. He reckoned after what Sister Julienne had told him, they were with her.

Patrick Turner stood behind his wife when he heard his son call out for them. He quickly stepped in the hallway and admonished his son. "Try to keep quiet Timothy. The Sister's are at the chapel and there's a seriously injured woman just a couple of meters away."

Timothy sheepishly looked at his feet. "I'm sorry dad." Then he looked up at his father. "Is mum alright?"

Patrick sighed and motioned his son to sit beside him on the chairs that had recently been used by Shelagh and Sister Julienne. "She will be in time, Tim."

"What does that mean?"

"Remember when I wasn't feeling myself?"

Timothy nodded. "I do, you didn't speak to us for days and simply laid in bed." The boy remembered his father's period of depression well. "Is that's what's wrong with mum?"

"Not exactly. My illness happened because something that happened to me a long time ago caught up with me. And that's what's happening to mum now. Something that happened a long time ago, caught up with her."

"That seriously injured woman?"

"Yes."

"But how?"

"It appears she is her sister."

"Mum has a sister?" Timothy exclaimed surprised. "Sorry." He had lowered his voice again. "Really though?"

"Really, Timothy. And that's all I know. That woman is her sister, who she hasn't seen for at least ten years, and Shelagh feels as if she failed her."

"But…" Timothy started, but the shake of his father's head made him stop talking.

Sister Julienne had walked up the stairs as well, with little Angela in her arms. "Look who is here."

Patrick stood up and took his daughter in his arms, inhaling her scent, which instantly calmed him. "Thank you for picking them up."

Sister Julienne put her hand on his shoulder. "You're welcome. Go downstairs with your children and get something to eat."

Patrick shook his head. "Shelagh…"

"I'll go to her. You need to be around those lovely children of yours and they need their lunch."

He knew the Sister was right and he motioned Timothy to follow him downstairs. Although he desperately needed to see his mother, Timothy understood now might not exactly be the time to see her. He followed his father without any complaints.

Sister Julienne softly knocked on the door, then opened it. She saw Shelagh sitting besides her sister's bedside in the only chair the room possessed. "Shelagh, come and have some lunch."

But Shelagh stubbornly shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

"My child, if not hungry, than at least join us and your family."

"No, what if she wakes up? I don't want her to be alone when she wakes. Not anymore."

Sister Julienne accepted that Shelagh needed to be near her sister and told her if she needed anything they would be in the kitchen. She wondered what had happened in the past for Shelagh to react this way. Shelagh looked over her shoulder, a smile of thanks was sent to Sister Julienne together with an apology. The Sister smiled back, letting the other woman know she was forgiven and left the room.

Shelagh heard the door close. She grabbed her sister's hand, holding it delicately in her own two. "I know you probably can't hear me, but I am so very sorry, Aislinn. I broke my promise to you. I was so very scared. I know it's not an excuse, but I really was so very scared.

_"Shelagh, be a dear and call your sister to dinner please."_

_"Yes, mother." Seven year old Shelagh walked out into the meadow behind their farm where she knew her little sister would be entertaining herself. When she arrived and looked over the meadow, her little sister was nowhere in sight. "Aislinn! It's dinnertime!" But little Aislinn didn't reply as she normally would. "Aislinn? Where are you?" Shelagh frantically ran towards the edge of the forest that was at the end of the meadow. It was there that she saw her little sister crouched down. "Aislinn, didn't you hear me call? You worried me!"_

_"Look, Shelagh!" The little sister took no notice of her older sister's worries and concern and pulled her next to her. "Aren't they the sweetest?"_

_Shelagh smiled at her sister's enthusiasm. "Yes, Aislinn, they are, but we have to leave them be. Mother has dinner ready. Come along."_

_Aislinn grabbed Shelagh's hand and together they walked back to their home. When they were about to enter, Aislinn stopped, making Shelagh stop as well. "I love you, Shelagh." She said matter-of-factly like only a five years old could._

Shelagh stroked her sister's hand. The memory came from out of nowhere and she asked her sister if she remembered that day. They'd been very young then, but Shelagh still remembered she'd been so scared something had happened to her sister. The relieve she felt when she'd found Aislinn had been immense. The last part of the memory made her smile and she told her the same words as she had then: "I love you, Aislinn. I always will."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Three days went by without any change in Aislinn's condition. Shelagh refused to leave her sister's side for a long period of time and had become her personal nurse. She would change bandages, applied creme to cuts and bruises and washed her as best as possible. In between she took care of her daughter, who was brought to her by Patrick before he'd dropped Timothy off to school and would go to work himself.

At the end of the day, the Turner family met at Nonnatus again. The Sisters allowed them to eat dinner with them and the nurses. After dinner Patrick would bring their children home for sleep, while Shelagh went back upstairs to take care of her sister.

Patrick missed his wife being home, but he understood her need to be near her sister. He did hope, however, that her sister would wake up soon. Hopefully, if that happened, it would mean that Shelagh would be returning home then.

It was on the fourth day -half way through the afternoon, Shelagh had just put Angela down for her nap and was now reading a book- that the woman on the bed stirred. Shelagh looked up at her sister, thinking she had imagined the movement of her sister's hand. But no, there her hand moved again and Shelagh quickly put her book down and grabbed her sister's hand. "Aislinn?"

Aislinn carefully opened her eyes, which hurt immensely as her right eye was still quite bruised. She could make out the silhouette of a woman next to her bed. She felt a warm hand holding her cold one and a soft, tentative voice once again calling her name. Her foggy mind put the three together as it being Shelagh, her sister.

Quickly she retracted her hand and turned her back towards her sister as best as she could. Her body felt as if a truck had run over it. Shelagh stared with wide eyes at her sister. She tentatively put her hand on Aislinn's shoulder, whispering her name.

"Go!"

Shelagh shivered at the decisiveness Aislinn's tone hold. "Aislinn, please."

"I said go! I want you to go and leave me alone!"

"If that is what you want…" Shelagh's voice broke.

"It is!"

"Then I shall leave." Shelagh walked to the door, then turned around one last time before she left the room and closed the door. Once the door was closed she sank down to the ground, no longer able to contain her tears.

It was Sister Julienne who found Shelagh still sitting on the ground, against the door ten minutes later. It was quite noticeable she had been crying. Sister Julienne offered her hand to help her up, which Shelagh thankfully took. Once standing on her feet again, she looked at Sister Julienne and shook her head. She didn't want to talk about what had happened. "But I can inform you she is awake."

"Doctor is here already, you go and get him" Sister Julienne said. Shelagh nodded and took the stairs down. Sister Julienne wistfully watched her go.

The moment the door had closed, Aislinn couldn't contain her sobs. Partly the tears came because she was tremendously in pain. But mostly they came of a chance lost. Here she lay -not knowing how long she had been here-, her sister at her bedside comforting her. After all those years she had found her sister and she reacted the way she had. The pain of Shelagh's broken promise had reared its ugly head once again. She had thought the need to find her sister and be a family again would be stronger than a promise broken. Apparently it still lingered around. "I want to forgive and forget," she muttered. "I want my sister back. Please make me forgive and forget."

Sister Julienne, who had stayed upstairs after Shelagh went down, knocked on the door of Aislinn's room. When no response came, she entered the room. The only thing she saw was a figure curled up under the blankets, who's shoulders were shaking. She also heard a desperate sobbing. Sister Julienne hurried over to the bed and gathered Aislinn in her arms. " Oh, my dear, sweet child," she motherly said, "let it all out."

After her sister had told her harshly to leave her alone, Shelagh slowly walked downstairs. Patrick had heard his wife's footsteps and he stood up, walking towards her. While Shelagh was walking towards the kitchen, she kept her head down, therefor she didn't notice her husband coming her way until she bumped into his solid form. "Patrick, I'm so sorry."

Patrick brought his hand to her cheek. "It's all right. Any change?"

That question brought a waterfall of tears. Bewildered Patrick pulled his wife against him and simply let her cry first.

The sound of Shelagh's sobbing drew the attention of the other people in the kitchen. The nurses and Sisters looked at Patrick questionably, and after a shrug of his shoulders they went their way. Timothy, however, wasn't as easily brushed of as the nurses and Sisters. He walked over to his parents and asked his mother if she was all right. That resulted in even more sobbing. The teenager looked aghast at his father, who tried to reassure him as best he could while holding Shelagh in his arms. "I'd appreciate it very much if you could keep an eye on Angela for the moment, son." He whispered. Timothy nodded and started to leave the hallway. He turned around and gave his stepmother a hug as best as was possible, softly telling her that whatever was wrong, it would always get right again and that he loved her. Then he left to keep his little sister occupied until it was time for dinner.

Patrick was astounded by Shelagh's behavior. In all the years he had known her, he had never seen her so completely broken, not even when he had to tell her she had tuberculosis. He tried to take a look at her face, and that meant he had to push her away a little in order to do so. But Shelagh only clung to him more, not wanting to let him go. "Shelagh, darling. We can't stay here in the hallway, I'm sure we can use Sister Julienne's office, but that means we have to move. And in order for us to move, you have to loosen your grip on me, otherwise we will certainly fall."

"Oh Patrick, I just want to go home."

Patrick noticed that the immense sobbing had turned into the occasional whimper. It tore at his heart to hear his lovely wife speaking in such a small voice. "All right, we are going. Come along then."

Patrick helped Shelagh in her coat and sat her down on the bench that stood beside the wall. Then he kneeled in front of her, taking hold of her hands. "I'll be right back. Timothy is looking after Angela, with help of the nurses and Sisters I'm sure. I'll go and get them and tell the Sisters we will be going. It won't take long, I will be right back."

Patrick didn't know what he was expecting, but Shelagh's silence wasn't it. He stood up and made his way over to the kitchen. He saw Sister Evangelina gently holding Angela on her lap, while Timothy was playing a game of cards with Trixie. "Tim, grab your coat and Angela's as well, please." It was one of the few times Timothy did exactly as he was told.

"How is she?" Sister Evangelina asked.

"I've never seen her like this, Sister." Patrick's voice sounded crushed. "It is as if she has simply given up."

Sister Evangelina stood up and handed Angela to Patrick. "Have faith, my boy. She's a strong woman. She will be all right."

"I hope so, Sister. I really hope so. I can't loose her."

"And you won't. Now, go and bring her and your children home. Simply being there for her often does wonders. I will tell Sister Julienne where you guys have disappeared to."

The small joke brought a slight smile to Patrick's face. "Thank you, Sister." And he turned towards his son who had brought Angela's coat back with him.

"I will take Angela, dad. That way you can take care of mum."

Patrick brought Timothy in a hug and whispered a thank you.

Sister Julienne was still caressing Aislinn's hair in a soothing matter. She noticed the sobs had turned into whimpers and the whimpers had turned to sniffles. She reached towards the night stand to get the box of aspirin and the glass of water Shelagh had left there. "My dear, I know your body must feel like a truck must have run over you. You need to take these aspirins." And she handed Aislinn the glass of water and two aspirins.

The young woman took them without complaint, hoping it would not only dull her physical pain, but also the pain she was feeling of rejecting her sister in the way she had. She saw Sister Julienne looking at her. Her eyes gave her a feeling of trust and safety. "Thank you, Sister…"

"I'm Sister Julienne. I'm glad and happy to see you awake, but I'm sure you will have a long recovery ahead. Doctor can tell more about that. Too be honest, I expected him to come. I'll see what is taking him so long. I'll be right back." Sister Julienne knew exactly why it took the doctor so long. She hurried downstairs and was just in time as the Turner family was about to leave. "Doctor, a moment, please."

Patrick Turner turned around to see the determined look of Sister Julienne. He sighed inwardly and then turned around to give Timothy the key of the car. "Here, you guys go ahead, I won't be long." Then he asked Sister Julienne what was the matter.

"Please follow me." Sister Julienne had noticed the subdued nature Shelagh was showing at the moment. While they were walking up the stairs she asked Patrick how her beloved ex-Sister was holding up.

"She has completely shut down, Sister. I don't know what to do or what caused this."

"Just be there for her Patrick, just be there. As for what caused this, I might have an inkling, but it's not our job to interfere between two sisters."

"What is there to interfere if her sister has not woken yet." Patrick replied.

"I guess she couldn't tell you yet her sister has woken. I found her outside the room and sent her to get you to examine her."

"Has she spoken to you about what happened?"

"No, she didn't want to talk about it. Not yet anyway. When she feels ready, I'm confident she will tell us."

They had arrived and Sister Julienne knocked on the door, then opened it after a small voice called 'Enter'.

Both entered, and while Sister Julienne made her way over to Aislinn, Patrick stood rooted to the spot. While unconscious he had noticed the uncanny similarity between Shelagh and Aislinn, but now that she was awake, the similarity was even more evident. Looking back at him were the same striking blue eyes his wife had. While his wife's eyes were looking very somber at the moment, he noticed Aislinn's eyes where filled with fear. He slowly came closer. "Hello, Aislinn. I'm doctor Turner. I came when the Sisters took you in. Is it all right if I see how much you've healed? Sister Julienne will be right here as well."

Aislinn nodded her consent and Patrick came standing next to Sister Julienne. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so good." Aislinn replied. "Everything hurts. I can't open my eye, I can't move without being in pain and…"

"And?" Patrick gently prodded.

"Nothing," Aislinn looked down at her hands.

"I gave her two aspirins for the pain, doctor." Sister Julienne changed the subject quickly.

"Good, I advise you to try and sleep some more. I will try to come by again tomorrow."

Aislinn nodded and tried to lay down. With the help of Sister Julienne she managed it as painless as possible.

Sister Julienne walked Patrick towards the door. "I'm sorry Sister, but I've got to go now. Shelagh…"

Sister Julienne nodded. "I understand, Patrick. Take care of her."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Once the Turner family had gotten home, Shelagh instantly went upstairs. Timothy looked at his father and asked him if he should get their 'easy dinner' ready. Patrick nodded and put Angela in her playpen. The little girl had fallen asleep during the ride home and even being put down didn't wake her up. Then he followed his wife upstairs.

He found her in their bedroom, curled up on her side. He sat down besides her, letting his hand rest on her upper arm, softly stroking. She didn't acknowledge him and kept staring at the wall. Patrick told her Timothy was getting their 'easy dinner' ready, the underlying message in that sentence was that he thought she should come and join them. The only answer he got was 'I'm not hungry'. He kissed her temple and told her he'd be back later after dinner, then he quietly closed the door of their bedroom and went downstairs.

Timothy had set the table for all four of them, but when he noticed his father coming down alone, he silently cleared away his mother's plate and cutlery. Patrick put his hand on Timothy's shoulder for a moment as a silent support. Then he turned around to get his daughter. Dinner was a quiet affair that evening in the Turner household.

The Sisters of Nonnatus House were doing their evening prayers. Sister Julienne led the other Sisters in prayer and no one was surprised that both Shelagh and Aislinn were in it. Though all Sisters (and the nurses as well) were curious as to what had happened between the two siblings, they respected their privacy. If they wanted to share their story, they would in their own time.

Afterwards either Sister went her own way. Sister Evangelina stopped Sister Julienne and the Sister-in-Charge knew what was to come. "Let's go to my office, where we shall not be disturbed."

The door was barely closed and Sister Evangelina came straight to the point. "What happened upstairs? Shelagh completely looked out of sorts."

Sister Julienne understood her fellow Sister's concern. She too was very concerned when she had seen Shelagh. She was a ghost of the woman she used to be. "All I know is Aislinn woke up."

"She's awake? But that's a reason to be happy, I'd say."

Sister Julienne nodded. "Normally it would." It was then that she remembered something that happened a long time ago, when Shelagh had just joined the order and had become Sister Bernadette. Then she looked at Sister Evangelina. "But I think the past is catching up on them, without having been able to give it a proper place to be just that: the past."

Sister Evangelina looked confused to Sister Julienne. "You know more, don't you?"

"I don't know what happened upstairs, but I have my suspicions. But I have remembered something that happened when Shelagh had just joined us as Sister Bernadette. But it's not my story to tell."

"No, I guess it's not." The other Sister conceded.

Angela had been brought to bed and Patrick tried to help Timothy with the little bit of homework he had left. When that had been done, the boy bid his father goodnight and also went to sleep. Patrick decided that staying down wasn't that much of an option while he worried about Shelagh and he also decided to turn in.

When Patrick came upstairs, he found Shelagh fast asleep. He quietly changed into his pajamas and laid down besides her. In her sleep, Shelagh turned to him and Patrick put his arm around her. Within five minutes, he too was asleep.

It was the middle of the night when Patrick was roughly awakened from his sleep. He noticed the restlessness in Shelagh. She was moving around frantically, he got a kick from her and he realized that was what had woken him up. She was definitely dreaming about something that was quite upsetting to her. He was contemplating of waking her up, but he also knew that she needed all the sleep she could get after the past week of taking care of her sister. But when she cried out the name of her sister with such anguish, his decision was made: he needed to wake her up out of the nightmare she apparently was having.

"Shelagh, wake up. It's all right, you're having a nightmare."

Patrick's soothing voice and tender caress slowly woke Shelagh. It took her a minute to realize she was in their bedroom, in their bed, in the safety of his arms. When she did, she clung to her husband, crying silently, her desperation clear to him.

"Shhh, it's all right." He whispered, stroking her hair. "I am here. It was only a nightmare. It wasn't real. Aislinn is safely at Nonnatus House."

"It was real. It did happen." Shelagh whispered, her voice thick.

"What happened? What did you dream about?" Patrick gently prodded.

"The war." Shelagh knew she wouldn't be able to keep quiet about this anymore and she had no energy at the moment to fight his insistence of knowing.

Patrick was taken aback. He had always assumed that she had spent those years at home, in Scotland. It was three years after the war had ended, she had joined the Order of Nonnatus as Sister Bernadette. He remembered the conversation with Sister Julienne he had when he just started working in Poplar. He had been amazed a woman of her age decided to become a nun, instead of going out with friends. He remembered the Sister's answer quite clearly: _"Sometimes, doctor Turner, what we actually want is not what we need to do."_ That had been all that she had told him, he had never questioned it again.

"Do you want to tell me?" he asked and he hoped she would.

Shelagh pulled back from his embrace and settled against the headboard of their bed. Her hands were in her lap and she was rubbing them anxiously, he noticed. "When I was in the sanatorium for the treatment of the TB, there was this nurse." Patrick took her hands in his, to give her the support she would need to continue telling him her story. Shelagh looked at their joined hands and then at Patrick. "She was the one who brought me your letters. She called me 'International Nun of Mystery' because I hardly said anything to anyone. One day she brought me my afternoon tea, and she told me she had figured it out. I was on the run. I did a number in Geneva; escaped with the proceeds; the habit's a disguise; TB: a pure cover story. I was a Jane Bond. I neither confirmed or denied her theory and she left a bit disappointed."

Patrick chuckled when he heard this bit about her time in the sanatorium. She had never mentioned it before. Shelagh looked at him with sad eyes, and he hastily replied: "That nurse her imagination has no limits."

"But that's just it, Patrick!" Shelagh exclaimed. "She hit the nail on the head."

Patrick looked dumb-founded at his wife. "What do you mean?"

"I was on the run and the habit was a disguise. It was only meant to continue for a year, two at the most. But by then I felt safe where I was, and I stayed to learn more and then in 1948 I officially joined."

"Whatever where you on the run for?"

"Not whatever, Patrick. Whomever. And the whom, were the Nazi's."


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

_Scotland - 1941_

The high, shrill sound of the air raid alarms filled the silent night. Not a minute later aircrafts were heard up in the sky as well as the sound of bombs falling. Shelagh and Aislinn were roughly awakened and as quickly as they could they left the comfort of their beds. On the landing they saw their father coming towards them. "Come, girls, quickly. To the shelter!"

As fast as they could they descended the stairs. They opened the front door and saw the sky colored orange. After a moments hesitation, the two young girls and their father took to running to the shelter as best they could. The shelter was only a couple of feet from their home. Shelagh arrived there first and she quickly opened the door. When her sister arrived, she quickly grabbed her hand and helped Aislinn inside to take the stairs down.

She looked up to see her father coming forth, but as he was recovering from an infection to his leg after being shot, he couldn't run as fast as he used to. Both sisters heard their father yelling to Shelagh to get inside already. The older girl did as she was told. The moment she stepped inside on the upper stair, the unmistakable sound of a falling bomb was heard above them. Aislinn too had heard the sound and made her way up the stairs again. Shelagh turned around to yell at her father to hurry up when the bomb impacted to the yard around their farm. Both girls screamed when they saw their father being flung high up in the sky on impact. Aislinn tried to run towards her father, but Shelagh grabbed her arm tightly.

"Let me go! We need to help him!"

"Aislinn," Shelagh's voice sounded pained and when Aislinn looked up at her sister's face, she saw the unshed tears in her eyes.

"We need to help him." This time the resolute sound in her voice had turned into uncertainty.

Shelagh enveloped her sister in a hug. "I wish we could, my darling sister. I wish we could, but I'm afraid it's too late."

_Poplar; London - Present Day_

Aislinn awoke with a start. It had been a while since she had last dreamed about the air raid which killed their father. Even then, at sixteen, Shelagh had been the most sensible one. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that the moment their mother had died, Shelagh had taken over that role even only eight years old herself.

She remembered they had gone back to their house -they couldn't really call it a home anymore- and they packed as much as they could carry in their suitcases. When morning came, they went to the train station and took the train to Edinburgh. Shelagh knew that their father's sister lived there and she hoped they could stay there for a bit, up until they had found a place of their own.

When they arrived, and had asked for directions to their aunt's house, they got the devastating news that all the houses there had been destroyed a couple of months earlier by an air raid, leaving no survivors. The first night, they spent in the Princes Street Gardens on one of the benches. A shiver ran down Aislinn's spine, simply remembering how cold they had been. The next night had been much warmer, they had been taken in by a lovely young couple who had been taking a walk in the gardens early that same morning. Their names: Allister and Agnes Fairfax.

A knock on the door brought Aislinn back to present time. When she had called a soft 'Enter' the door opened and Sister Julienne appeared with a tray with bread and tea. With a soft smile on her face, the Sister walked towards Aislinn while commenting she thought the woman to be hungry by now. The moment Sister Julienne had said so, Aislinn's stomach indicated that food was indeed needed.

"Thank you," Aislinn gratefully said and she tried to sit up. She managed to do so, without any help, but still she grimaced in pain.

Sister Julienne saw the grimace, but decided not to mention it. She placed the tray on Aislinn's legs, asking if it was acceptable and without much pain. Aislinn nodded and stretched her left arm to grab a piece of bread. The sleeve of the nightgown she was now wearing showed half of her arm which made the numbers on it visible. The moment Aislinn noticed it had happened, she pushed the sleeve down again and then hesitantly looked up at Sister Julienne. Her fears were confirmed when she saw the sympathetic look on the Sister's face and she bowed her head in shame.

Sister Julienne took the chair over next to the bed and sat down. "Which one?" she asked gently.

It took all the strength Aislinn could muster to say it out loud. And even then it came out on a whisper of breath. It still pained her too much to talk about it. She shook her head when Sister Julienne asked her if Shelagh knew. "Not that I am aware of. If she does know it would break her heart," Aislinn whispered, "and she would feel more guilty about breaking her promise than she already does."

Sister Julienne gently took Aislinn's left arm in her left hand and with her right hand she slowly pushed the sleeve of the nightgown up. "So this is not what has Shelagh so upset?" A 'No…' was whispered. "You sent her away because of this." It was a statement, not a question and Sister Julienne had only to look at Aislinn to know it was what had happened. Like Shelagh, Aislinn wore her heart on her sleeve. "Oh my dear sweet child." Sister Julienne gently gathered Aislinn in a hug, mindful of both her injuries and the tray of food. "You're not only afraid it would break her heart and left her feeling more guilty, are you not?"

"No."

The Sister suspected as much. "Though I'm certain it would break her heart and left her feeling more guilty, she could never ever think nor love you any less for it. Knowing Shelagh, I'd say she'd think you extremely brave and would love you even more for all the horrors you've endured and seen."

"How can you be so sure?" a tear-filled voice asked.

"Because about fourteen years ago, there was this young woman who was brought to our home. And although it's not my story to tell, but your sister's, I can tell you that the first thing she said to me was: _'I wish I would have half the strength my sister has shown me these past few days.' _You see, Aislinn, she has always thought you to be extremely brave. And although the time probably will never be right, don't you think you owe it to each other to tell the other what happened after they separated you?" Sister Julienne stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll let you think about it and I'll be back in half an hour to clear up the tray."

Patrick Turner knew when he chose to marry Shelagh, there was still so much they needed to learn about each other. They knew almost nothing about each other's childhoods, their time as adolescents was unknown as well. He'd always thought she went straight to nursing school from home and then after qualifying became a nun. Boy, had he been mistaken. In a week's time he had not only learned that his sweet, darling wife had a sister, but also that she'd been on the run for the Nazi's.

He couldn't really blame her for not telling him, though. _'Pot, kettle and black, Patrick.'_ He admonished himself, for he hadn't told her what had happened to him after the war right from the start either. He came downstairs to find Timothy already awake, sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, talking animatedly to Shelagh. Her responses were short, but Patrick noticed that Timothy was to happy to see her among them again to notice her thoughts where not with his conversation.

"Morning, dad."

Patrick tried to smile and actually managed to show a small one. "Good morning, Timothy." Then he went over to Shelagh, who was standing at the stove and he gently hugged her while he whispered a good morning to her. He instantly noticed she relaxed visibly and with one last caress, he too sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

Shelagh turned around, a small smile gracing her face. "Breakfast is almost ready."

Timothy raised his arms in the air while exclaiming he was glad to have a proper breakfast made by his mother again. Both Shelagh and Patrick chuckled. Then a cry was heard. "Someone has woken up." Shelagh said.

"I'll go and get her." Patrick replied, while he walked back up to gather their daughter. While going down again, Angela happily coed while she was being carried by Patrick. When entering the kitchen for a second time that morning -this time with Angela in his arms- Patrick told his wife that he'd leave the dressing of their daughter to her this time.

"I'd be happy too," Shelagh said, while she put the plates on the table. "I admit I've missed these morning rituals we have."

Patrick smiled, he whole-heartedly agreed. He had just placed Angela in her feeding chair, when the phone rang. Timothy stood up and rushed to answer the phone. "Turner residence, Timothy speaking." It stayed quiet at the other end of the line. "Hello? Who is this? Do you need to speak to doctor Turner?"

Both Patrick and Shelagh looked at the boy questionably when the boy turned around and said: "It's for you mum."

While she put down her cutlery and stood up, she asked Timothy who it was that was calling. Timothy, who had walked back to start on his breakfast, shrugged his shoulders while he replied: "A woman named Aislinn."

Patrick let is cutlery fall on his plate. The noise of it made, made the rest look at him. He only had his eyes on Shelagh. While she picked up the phone, Patrick walked over to her. He stood behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders for silent support.

"Shelagh Turner speaking."

"Shelagh? It's Aislinn…" The line stayed silent for a moment.

"Timothy told us it was you. Are you … are you all right?"

"I'm feeling better than yesterday." Another silence, then: "Shelagh, I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have done what I did."

"I accept your apology."

"Could you… Can we… Can we please talk?"

Shelagh absentmindedly nodded her head, then she realized that Aislinn couldn't see that, so she hurriedly said: "Yes, of course."

"Thank you."

"Let me finish my breakfast and I'll come over. I'll be there in an hour."


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

_Edinburgh; Scotland - 1943_

Two years had passed since they were taken in by the Fairfax's. Agnes had just become a mother. When the baby arrived, Allister had been abroad and it went unexpectedly quickly, so it had been Shelagh who had delivered the little boy, as the midwife was still on her way. The moment Allister had gotten the telegram which told him Agnes had delivered their baby boy, he abandoned what he actually needed to do and went straight home.

It was a few days later, that there was a knock on the door and Shelagh opened it. She was surprised to find a man standing there, because she was expecting Aislinn to come back with the little groceries they could get in this time.

"Hello, my name is William Fairfax. Is my brother at home?"

Allister, who had heard his brother's voice, came to the hallway. "Will, it is good to see you. Shelagh, thank you, I'd appreciate it if you could get us a some tea."

Shelagh nodded and went to the kitchen. Allister took his brother to the sitting room. They spoke quietly. "We need to finish the operation, Allister. Gerrit and Jan were immediately arrested when they were dropped in their home country."

"I know Will, but I can't leave Agnes now."

It was at that moment that Shelagh came in carrying a tray which held the cups of tea.

"We'll talk about this later." Allister said in a hushed tone and his brother nodded. The young man looked at his protégé, wondering how much she had heard. The knock on the front door made her leave and he could vaguely hear her chastise her sister for being late. The younger girl giggled and started telling her older sister about whom she met while getting the little groceries she could get.

Later, when night had fallen and the house had gone quiet, Shelagh slipped into the sitting room. Allister sat in one of the recliners near the fire. He startled when he heard Shelagh's voice telling him in no uncertain terms, she wanted to be a part of what he was doing.

"And what do you think it is, I'm doing, Shelagh?"

"You're working on missions abroad, to sabotage the Germans in their plans for this war."

Allister stood up and walked over to where Shelagh stood. He was at least two feet taller than she was and he mustered all the intimidation skills he had. Never once did she cowered away from him and she looked him square in the eye. He sighed, he should have foreseen this change of events. "Once you're in, there is no way out. And there's your sister to think about." He warned.

"I accept the consequences. And my sister will understand."

"We'll go to London tomorrow. Go and pack."

_Poplar; London - Present Day_

Shelagh had rushed through the routines of breakfast and dressing her daughter. The latter was showing her unhappiness at being hurriedly dressed. When Angela had been put in her playpen, so Shelagh could get her coat and purse, Patrick stopped his wife. "Darling, it will be all right."

"She wanted to talk. Patrick, I've got a bad feeling about this."

Patrick pulled Shelagh with him and made her sit down on the couch. "This bad feeling, has it to do with being afraid she will tell you she doesn't want to see you?"

"No, she did that yesterday." Came the breathless reply.

Now Patrick understood his wife's subdued manner. Shelagh loved with her whole being and being told to go by someone she loved deeply, hurt her more than anything else. Combined with the guilt of a broken promise, this had made her inconsolable. "Then what is this bad feeling then?"

Shelagh looked up miserable at her husband. "When I took care of Aislinn, there was one time I had washed her as best I could and changed her into a clean nightgown. When I wanted to put her left arm in its sleeve, I noticed these numbers on her arm."

"What do you mean? Like they were written with a pen?" Patrick gave the appearance of ignorance, but he had an inkling what the numbers on Aislinn's arm meant.

Shelagh shook her head, oblivious to Patrick's apprehension. "They stayed on when I washed her arm. It is almost as if it is a tattoo, as if she was…"

"… branded." Patrick finished her sentence.

Shelagh looked at him with wide eyes. "Who would do such a thing?" She whispered, the pain evident in her voice.

Patrick grabbed her hands. "You know I don't know what happened, but I did hear stories of soldiers who fought at the end of the war. They would come across these so-called 'Konzentrationslager' as the Nazi's called them.

"The concentration camps." Shelagh muttered and the look on her face was both one of recognition and ghastly horror.

Patrick nodded, "I'm not really surprised you've heard of them. They also mentioned the people -both alive and death- had a six digit number on their left arm for identification."

"But, that would mean she was sent to one of them." Tears were forming in Shelagh's eyes.

"You're guess is as good as mine, darling." Patrick replied. "She is the only one who knows. You go and talk to her as promised, and I'll take care of Angela."

But Shelagh shook her head. "No, I'll take her with me. I'm sure her godmother would love to spent some time with her and I think after our talk both Aislinn and I could use her sweet and good-hearted nature."

Patrick got Angela out of the playpen and handed her over to Shelagh, then he went to get pram while Shelagh put their little girl her coat on.

Chummy opened the door and let Shelagh in. "You know, Peter was worried about how to contact any family of the woman when she was found. She had no purse, no papers. But it's all ticketyboo and marvellous now that you've identified her. I didn't know you had a sister. Do you want some tea?" The pace in which Chummy was talking, showed her anxiousness.

Shelagh sighed inwardly and thought to herself that there were many more things that Chummy didn't know about her. The gently way in which she spoke to Chummy belied her irked feeling. "Some tea would be nice, Chummy, thanks. If you could make that two cups, I'll take them both upstairs when I see my sister."

Chummy nodded, "Right on it."

Shelagh saw Chummy leaving, and then knocked on the large wooden door that let to Sister Julienne's office. When she heard the affirmative to enter, she opened the door and stepped inside. Sister Julienne stood up to great both Shelagh and her goddaughter and Angela made it no secret, she wanted to be held by her godmother.

Shelagh handed Angela over to Sister Julienne. It was then she noticed that Sister Evangelina was also in the room. Said Sister had stood up and walked over to Shelagh. "How are you?" Sister Evangelina's concern was clearly visible in her eyes.

"I'm okay, I'll manage."

"I know you do." Sister Evangelina briskly said, then in a much softer tone; "but that does not mean we won't support you in whatever it is that is troubling you."

A small and shy smile appeared on Shelagh's face. "Thank you, Sister." It was at that moment, Chummy appeared with two cups of tea. "Well, I'd better go upstairs, then."

"Call us, if you need anything." Sister Julienne gently said and Shelagh replied: "I will, thank you."

_Edinburgh; Scotland - 1944_

Shelagh shivered and pulled her coat closer around her. She had been in London for the past six months, working for MI5. And even though it had been freezing in London, she had forgotten how cold it could be up north.

Her sister now knew what kind of job she did and had visited her on occasion. Together they had attended dinner parties. At one of these, they had met Kasimir Metzger. A German soldier, a Generalleutnant -comparable to a lieutenant general here in the British army-, who worked at the German air force called the Luftwaffe. At one of his missions, his plane had crashed and he had been captured. He was brought to MI5, who offered him his life in exchange of his loyalty to Germany. Metzger accepted the deal without hesitating, and so he became a double agent for the British army. He had just been back from Germany, delivering 'information' to the German secret service called the Abwehr.

It was thanks to Kasimir Metzler, she was once again back in Edinburgh. After a short courtship, Kasimir had asked Aislinn to marry him and today was the day of their wedding. Shelagh stood outside of their home for the past three years, waiting for her sister to come down. She moved around to try and keep warm, but when she saw her sister descending the stairs, Shelagh stood still.

"Well? What do you think?" Aislinn nervously asked.

Shelagh walked over to her sister and took both her hands in her own. "Aislinn, you look absolutely beautiful. I can't believe you are getting married today." And she pulled her sister into a hug.

"Well, believe it." Aislinn grinned with a sparkle in her eye. "I'm glad you could make it."

"I wouldn't miss this for anything. Come, your future husband awaits."

Neither girl would know that only in three months time, their lives would drastically change.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

_Poplar; London - Present Day_

Shelagh walked up the stairs carefully, carrying the tray with the two cups of tea. When she arrived at room Aislinn stayed in, she maneuvered the tray to her left hand and softly knocked on the door with the other. When she heard a timid enter, she opened the door and mustered a small smile on her face. She still entered with a bit of caution. "Chummy, made us some tea, if you are up to it?"

"Thank you, I'd love some." Aislinn took the cup from the tray and curled her fingers around it, relishing in its warmth. Her eyes were fixed on the teacup, she didn't dare to look up at Shelagh.

Shelagh sat down in the chair, which was standing beside the bed. She had taken her cup of tea and had placed the tray next to the bedside table. She looked at her sister's demure behavior. This was not how she remembered her sister. Aislinn had always been the one who was the most outgoing of the two of them, always in for a new adventure. The wrong-going of their mission must have played a huge part in her personality change.

Ten minutes had gone by without either sister speaking a single word and the silence felt suffocating to them both. Shelagh placed her -now empty- teacup on the bedside table, she took the one Aislinn was clinging to as if it were a lifeline and placed that one on the bedside table as well. Then she took Aislinn's left hand in her own and without saying a word she pushed up the sleeve, baring her arm, showing the six digit number.

Aislinn's gaze slowly went to her bare arm and then she closed her eyes in silent surrender. Shelagh saw the tears falling from Aislinn's eyes and she gently wiped them away. She pushed the chair aside and sat down on the bed, enveloping her sister in a loving hug. "Oh, my darling sister," Shelagh whispered. "It will be all right. I'm here, I've got you!" The two sisters sat like that for quite a while. While Aislinn quietly cried, Shelagh gently rubbed her arms in comfort.

_Lunteren; The Netherlands - 1944_

"I can't believe you got into this!" Shelagh hissed while the plane was descending to a hight that would allow them to jump out of it.

"You got into it, before me! I have as much right to do this as you!" Aislinn retorted.

"You married a German Generalleutnant, whom we still suspect of not giving us the information he actually knows! The Germans know who you are!"

"All the better," Aislinn said, the self-satisfied tone vexed Shelagh to no end. "They know who I am, they won't hurt me."

"Or they will kill you right away!"

The tactical coordinator cut into their argument, telling them this was the time and place. They needed to make the jump. Otherwise all their planning would be in vain.

"This conversation is not finished, understood!" Shelagh whispered angrily.

"What? You want to finish this when we're in enemy territory?" But Aislinn never got a response to her question. Shelagh had jumped from the plane and already had activated her parachute. Aislinn quickly followed.

They glided towards the landing spot they had deemed safe. It was the field of a farm, the farmer was a member of the Dutch resistance and he would be awaiting them, bringing them into the safety of his home the moment they would land. A sudden gust of wind threw a spanner in the works. It lifted both girls up by several feet, and in the end they landed a couple of miles from their original landing place, in the middle of the woods. The trees obscured their vision while landing. The German soldiers, however, had seen them and when they had landed in an open clearing in the woods, they were awaiting them at gun point.

Both Shelagh and Aislinn were frantically trying to untie their parachutes and trying to get away. The baritone voice which ordered them to stop made them realize they had failed. "Drehen Sie sich um. Ich möchte Ihren Gesichter sehen."

The two young women turned around slowly, hands raised in the air to indicate their surrender. Aislinn recognized the soldier to whom the voice belonged. He was a Generalmajor in her husband's legion. Kurt Richter his name is. She had only seen him once, when they had to be in Germany to attend one of Hitler's gatherings, and at that time she and Kasimir had just gotten engaged. It had been a quick hello and there for she hoped that he wouldn't recognize her. Her sister's words had shaken her more than she had let on.

Unfortunately for Aislinn, Kurt Richter had an exceptional memory when it came to faces and names. "Ahh, Fräulein Mannion. Es ist schon eine Weile her, wann wir uns das letzte Mal gesehen haben."

Shelagh looked at her sister and she saw the look of discontent clearly. She hold her breath, anticipating her sister's next move. To appear confident and strong, Shelagh raised her chin a bit higher, but she felt anything but confident at the moment.

"Actually, it's Frau Metzger now." Aislinn had been taught the German language by Kasimir, but she refused to speak German to those soldiers. Her Scottish stubbornness was their downfall. The somewhat gentle look Kurt Richter had turned to one of stone. "Ach so. Dann wäre es vielleicht eine weise Entscheidung, Deutsch zu sprechen." He turned to his soldiers and ordered them to take the two woman into custody. "Jetzt!" He bellowed when he noticed them hesitating.

Their hands were bound behind their backs and each woman was flanked by two German soldiers. Richter stood behind them and ordered them to walk. Even though they did as they were told, they got a shove to make them start moving. Aislinn was about to protest their rough treatment, but one look at Shelagh and seeing her shake her head made her reconsider.

It was a long walk to the town centre. When they walked the city streets, people stopped what they were doing, watching the two woman in silence. Both looked straight ahead, never once looking to the side. They stopped in front of a building -clearly the town hall- and they entered. They were placed in separate rooms, in which a table and four chairs were the only furniture.

_Poplar; London - Present Day_

Shelagh noticed Aislinn's breathing become calmer, her weeping lessening and she dared ask the question which was plaguing her from the moment she had realized her sister likely had spent time in one of the concentration camps. While stroking Aislinn's hair, she softly asked: "Which one?"

Without looking up, Aislinn answered: "Westerbork first, then Bergen-Belsen."

Shelagh closed her eyes. She knew about Westerbork, she had been there. Her voice wavered with her next question. "How… how long?"

"Twelve months. Only two in Westerbork."

A sob escaped Shelagh. Her sister had spent a year in such horrible places, while she had been walking around freely. No wonder the lead they had become a dead end. They had sent her out of the country. When they had known about Westerbork in August of 1944, she had already been in Bergen-Belsen for two months.

"We knew too late." Shelagh muttered more to herself than for Aislinn to hear.

But Aislinn did hear and she looked at her sister with wide eyes. "You came for me?"

"Of course I came for you!" Shelagh placed her right hand gently on her sister's left cheek. With her other hand, she grabbed Aislinn's hand. "When we came back that night and noticed you were not there anymore, they wanted to go back to London. I told them, they had to go without me, then, because I wouldn't go back to London without you. While William did go back, Allister stayed with me. It was so difficult to find out what had happened to you, we were at our wits end. Then we learned from the Dutch resistance of this English woman at Westerbork and we hurried there, only to learn you were already gone, your destination unknown."

"They hoped the British government would trade me for any of their German prisoners, so they brought me to the exchange camp there. It never happened, either the Germans chose someone else to trade, or our government didn't feel the need to respond."

Shelagh noticed the dismal tone in which Aislinn spoke. She knew it was time to talk about brighter things at the moment and therefor she asked if Aislinn was up for another visitor.

"Sister Julienne doesn't strike me as the type to visit when she knows we are talking."

Shelagh smiled. "You're right about her. But I wasn't talking about Sister Julienne, nor any of the other Sisters nor the nurses."

"I haven't met any of the other Sisters yet, and the only nurse I've met is Chummy, I think she said her name was. But if it isn't any of them, then who is it?"

"My daughter."

"You have a daughter?"

Shelagh nodded. "She's two now, Patrick and I adopted her two years ago, right after she was born. I've got a son too. Stepson, technically speaking, Patrick was married before."

"And here I thought I'd find you here as a nun. Come to think of it, when I woke up, you were wearing regular clothing, that should have given me a clue. I missed so much of your life."

"We both did of each other's lives." Shelagh said. "I'm going to get Angela, so you can meet her."

"I'd love to meet her. And I'd love to meet the rest of your family as well someday."

"That day will probably come sooner rather than later. You are stuck with me now."

Aislinn smiled. "And you with me."

Shelagh was almost out of the room when Aislinn called after her. "But you were a nun right? I find it hard to believe Allister lied to me about that."

Shelagh stood still in the doorpost and turned around. "Yes, I've been a nun and midwife for ten years."

"What happened for you to leave?"

Shelagh's eyes twinkled and a smile graced her face. "I fell in love." Then she left to get Angela. Aislinn watched her sister go, with wonder.

* * *

While I do understand quite a bit of the German language, writing it is a whole different story. I had to use the online translation websites, so if any of the German phrases are a bit weird, I'll blame them =D. But here is the translation:

"Drehen Sie sich um. Ich möchte Ihren Gesichter sehen." / Turn around. I want to see your faces.

"Ahh, Fräulein Mannion. Es ist schon eine Weile her, wann wir uns das letzte Mal gesehen haben." / Ahh, miss Mannion. It has been a while when we last saw each other.

"Ach so. Dann wäre es vielleicht eine weise Entscheidung, Deutsch zu sprechen." / Oh I see. Perhaps it would have been a wise decision to speak German then.

"Jetzt!" / Now!


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: **I normally don't do an author's note in the middle of one of my stories, but I think a bit of an explanation is in order. It took me a long time to post an update on this story. I haven't forgotten it, but RL and a writing muse on vacation made it impossible for me to write at all. A part of this chapter has been written a month ago, today I tried to write some and while I did write some, it's not as much as I wanted to. I decided to keep this chapter as short as it is, and post it anyway, keeping my fingers crossed, that my writing muse will end her vacation soon.

* * *

CHAPTER 9

Shelagh came downstairs and went over to Sister Julienne's office. When she knocked on the door and received no reply, she opened the door. The office was empty, so she headed over to the dining room. There she saw the Sisters and nurses enjoying their afternoon tea. Angela was happily sitting on Sister Evangelina's lap, drinking the little bit of tea that was left in Sister's teacup.

When Angela noticed her mother, she enthusiastically stretched out her arms to Shelagh. "Mommy!" This made everyone in the room turn towards Shelagh.

"How did it go?" Sister Julienne asked.

"We started talking," Shelagh replied. "It is babysteps we need to take, I guess."

Sister Julienne nodded. "I understand, it has certainly been a long time since you have last seen each other."

"How long has it been?" Trixie asked genuinely curious.

"More than ten years." Shelagh responded.

"More than ten years?" The blonde nurse exclaimed. "What happened for it to be such a long time?"

Shelagh shook her head. "That's still something we need to talk about. Now it is time for Angela to meet her aunt." She lifted her daughter from Sister Evangelina's lap and made her way back to her sister.

"I wonder what happened, for them not to see each other for more than ten years." Trixie said when Shelagh had left the room.

"We shouldn't pry into their lives." Sister Mary Cynthia said. "If they want to share their story, they will. If they do not want to, they will not."

"I guess you are right." Trixie huffed in exasperation, but she knew Sister Mary Cynthia was right.

Shelagh carried her daughter up the stairs. The little girl kept babbling the whole time, up till they stood still in front of the door that led to Aislinn's room. She asked her daughter if she was ready to meet her aunt. The little girl looked at her mother with wide eyes. "Aunt?" She said the foreign word with wonder, not yet knowing its meaning.

"Yes, your aunt." Shelagh whispered. "Mommy's little sister."

"Mommy," Angela said and she wrapped her arms around Shelagh's neck.

Shelagh opened the door and entered the room. Aislinn looked up and when she noticed her sister entering, she put away the book she had been reading. Shelagh walked over to the bed and resumed her place in the chair next to it, adjusting her hold on Angela, so the girl could sit on her lap.

"Angel girl, meet your auntie Aislinn. Aislinn, meet your niece Angela." Shelagh said with a smile.

Aislinn stretched her arm and gently touched Angela's face. "Hello Angela, it is nice to meet you."

Angela looked at Aislinn with genuine curiosity. "Boo-boo?" She asked and pointed to Aislinn's face.

Aislinn nodded and replied in the affirmative. It was then that Angela started writhing out of her mother's grasp, trying to climb onto the bed.

"Are you all right with Angela climbing on the bed?" Shelagh asked and when Aislinn said it was all right, she helped her daughter onto the bed. The little girl instantly crawled closer to her aunt, who made sure her niece wouldn't fall off the bed. Shelagh looked on how her daughter crawled towards her sister and how she, when she was close enough, placed her little hands very gently on Aislinn's face. "Boo-boo over."

Aislinn smiled. "Soon." Then she looked at her sister, who had a beaming smile on her face.

_Lunteren; The Netherlands - 1944_

Shelagh anxiously sat down in one of the chairs that the room provided. After she had been interrogated, the German soldiers had left her alone. She had stood up and checked the door, not really surprised to find it locked. It was then she started pacing around, a maelstrom of thoughts entering her mind. Aware that there might be recording devices placed in the room other than the one that was on the table, she kept quiet while she paced around, trying to form a plan of escape.

Shelagh sighed in defeat. Her elbows were resting on the table, her head rested in her hands. She wondered how her sister was doing. When they had arrived, they had placed her sister in one of the first rooms, when they had entered the building, while she had to walk further into the hallway before being placed in another room. There was no way she could communicate with her sister.

A racket outside made her alert and turn towards the door. When the door opened, the two people she had not expected to see, where standing in the door opening. While William was standing guard at the entry, Allister walked in, grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. When they stood in the hallway, the two men made their way towards the back entry of the building. Shelagh stood still, not making a move. And because Allister was still holding her hand, he noticed her not coming with them. He raised his eyebrow in question and Shelagh softly said the name of her sister.

William was keeping the door of the back entry open and getting impatient, letting the other two know they needed to hurry. Allister motioned him to go ahead and then explained to Shelagh that the Germans were interrogating Aislinn right this moment.

"But I won't leave without her!"

"We'll come back for her tonight. Right now, we need to go!"

Shelagh looked back, while she hesitantly walked the way Allister was softly dragging her to. The sound of a door opening made her realize that both men were risking their lives to get her out of there and she finally started to run, making a silent promise to her sister to get her out of there.


End file.
